SIMIFF study: Italian fungal registry of mold infections in hematological and non-hematological patients.

PURPOSE: We compared the risk factors, the diagnostic tools and the outcome of filamentous fungal infections (FFIs) in hematological patients (HAEs) and non-hematological patients (non-HAEs). METHODS: Prospective surveillance (2009-2011) of proven and probable FFIs was implemented in 23 Italian hospitals. RESULTS: Out of 232 FFIs, 113 occurred in HAEs and 119 in non-HAEs. The most frequent infection was invasive aspergillosis (76.1 % for HAEs, 56.3 % for non-HAEs), and the localization was principally pulmonary (83.2 % for HAEs, 74.8 % for non-HAEs). Neutropenia was a risk factor for 89.4 % HAEs; the main underlying condition was corticosteroid treatment (52.9 %) for non-HAEs. The distribution of proven and probable FFIs was different in the two groups: proven FFIs occurred more frequently in non-HAEs, whereas probable FFIs were correlated with the HAEs. The sensitivity of the galactomannan assay was higher for HAEs than for non-HAEs (95.3 vs. 48.1 %). The overall mortality rate was 44.2 % among the HAEs and 35.3 % among the non-HAEs. The etiology influenced the patient outcomes: mucormycosis was associated with a high mortality rate (57.1 % for HAEs, 77.8 % for non-HAEs). CONCLUSIONS: The epidemiological and clinical data for FFIs were not identical in the HAEs and non-HAEs. The differences should be considered to improve the management of FFIs according to the patients' setting.

Future research and collaboration: the "SINERGIE" project on HCV (South Italian Network for Rational Guidelines and International Epidemiology).

The SINERGIE (South Italian Network for Rational Guidelines and International Epidemiology) project is intended to set up a collaborative network comprising virologists, clinicians and public health officials dealing with patients affected by HCV disease in the Calabria Region. A prospective observational data-base of HCV infection will be developed and used for studies on HCV natural history, response to treatment, pharmaco-economics, disease complications, and HCV epidemiology (including phylogenetic analysis). With this approach, we aim at improving the identification and care of patients, focusing on upcoming research questions. The final objective is to assist in improving care delivery and inform Public Health Authorities on how to optimize resource allocation in this area.

Anti-hepatitis C antibody prevalence among intravenous drug addicts in the Catanzaro area.

A higher seroprevalence of anti-HCV antibodies (63.4%) was found in 41 intravenous drug addicts (IVDA) when compared to 220 controls (1.8%). Life style is an important risk factor for HCV transmission among IVDA.

HIV-1: a case of RT67 deletion in a multi-treated non responder patient.

The early detection of mutations in the HIV-1 polymerase is a key point in the management of anti-retroviral therapy. While nucleotide substitutions and insertions have been well and frequently desribed in literature as linked to drug resistance, deletions have been rarely observed and desribed (ART67, Imamichi et al.). The aim of this study is to describe a case of deletion of three nucleotides in the RT gene (ART67) of a multi-treated HIV-1 infected patient. As this deletion has not been detected by the oligoprobe assay, the phenotyping test was used to support therapy but without an appreciable success in terms of viral load. Then a sequencing based genotyping system was used to analyse the viral polymerase and a novel deletion was found at codon 67 of RT gene.

Relevance of intravenous cocaine use in relation to prevalence of HIV, hepatitis B and C virus markers among intravenous drug abusers in southern Italy.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between intravenous (i.v) drug use practices and the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) in 146 heterosexual male i.v. drug users (IVDUs) attending a methadone-maintainance treatment program in Catanzaro, Southern Italy. One hundred and forty-six heterosexual male IVDUs attending a methadone-maintainance treatment program in Catanzaro were interviewed in order to obtain the following information: age, number of drug injections (calculated by multiplying the mean number of daily injections by 365 and then by the number of years of injections), number of injection equipment-sharing partners in the last year, number of sexual partners in the last year and possible IV cocaine use. Their sera were studied for the presence of antibodies to HIV, HBV and HCV by commercial enzyme-linked-immuno-sorbent assays run in duplicate. HIV positive samples were confirmed by Western Blot assay. Sixteen per cent of IVDUs were anti-HIV positive, 40% were anti-HBc positive and 68% were anti-HCV positive. Twenty-three per cent were seronegative and 12% were seropositive for all 3 viral markers. Multiple logistic analysis of HIV, HBV and HCV seropositivities in relation to age, number of drug injections, i.v. cocaine use and presence of injection equipment-sharing partners in the last year, showed that: a) older age (more than 27 years) was significantly associated with all 3 viral infections (mainly with HIV); b) i.v. cocaine use was associated with HBV, but even more with HIV; c) injection equipment-sharing partners in the last year was directly associated with HCV and inversely with HIV. No significant association was observed with the number of drug injections and the number of sexual partners. In conclusion, this study: a) demonstrates a difference of prevalence for HIV, HBV and HCV serum markers in this group of IVDUs from Catanzaro, Southern Italy; b) underlines the importance of i.v. cocaine use in the spreading of HIV; c) emphasizes the need of preventive strategies.